The Nashville Incident
The shooter, riddled with bullets, lay motionless. When a SWAT team member nudged him with his left hand—the one not holding a weapon—the body slumped to the side. The officer checked the carotid artery in the neck, felt no pulse, and holstered his sidearm. "Suspect down! Keep your eyes peeled and sweep the area, just in case!"
Although the shooter had been neutralized, the SWAT team meticulously searched the surrounding vehicles to ensure there were no other threats. Finding nothing unusual, they radioed in: "Suspect neutralized!"
The Nashville Police Chief let out a sigh of relief upon receiving the transmission. He immediately radioed the officers waiting outside. "The suspect is down. Aside from those maintaining the police line, everyone else is to enter and evacuate the students through the main entrance."
David, who had been listening to the public radio channel, peeled himself away from the wall near the rear exit. "This is Campus Police! I’m coming out now!" He shouted to prevent any accidental friendly fire, then slowly stepped out through the back door. The SWAT team approached, having seen him emerge.
The SWAT team leader, who had been monitoring the suspect's body, realized that the threat had been stopped not by his own team, but by the campus police. He asked, "Were you the one who fired on the suspect?"
"I did fire, yes, but the suspect kept moving, likely because he was wearing a bulletproof vest."
The SWAT leader gestured toward the body. "We delivered the final shots, but the suspect was already in a state where he couldn't resist. Thanks to you, we were able to protect the students."
After receiving the SWAT leader's commendation, David grew anxious and checked on the status of the students. "The shooter was firing a rifle indiscriminately. I’m worried there might be injured students."
"The Nashville police are currently inside the school evacuating everyone. There have been no reports of casualties so far, so let's keep it that way."
As the head of the Campus Police, David’s top priority was the safety of the students. He excused himself to the SWAT team and keyed his radio. "Charlie, Liam, Shane! The suspect is neutralized. Check for any student casualties and get them to the main entrance!"
Charlie replied, "Hey, Chief! We’re already on it. The Nashville police are helping us out, so you can take your time getting to the front!"
David re-entered the school building through the rear exit. He could see teachers leading their students out of each classroom. Some students were sobbing as they followed the person in front of them, while younger children who couldn't move quickly were being carried by police officers.
He requested that the teachers conduct a headcount for their respective classes just in case, then headed back outside. There, he saw parents who had somehow received the news, looking panicked as they searched for their children.
The Nashville Police Chief was fielding questions from reporters outside the police line.
"Is the suspect currently neutralized?"
"Before the SWAT team arrived, the Nashville private school's campus police blocked the suspect's entry, and the SWAT team has now neutralized him."
"What is the status of the students?"
"We are currently checking the status by class... there are no student fatalities. Some staff and students sustained minor injuries while evacuating, but their lives are not in danger."
"Chief! Has the suspect's identity been confirmed?"
"The suspect's identity has not yet been verified."
"There were reports of rifle fire—what was the suspect armed with?"
"The suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest and was armed with two rifles and one handgun."
While the Chief was dealing with the press, David arrived at the evacuation area. Staff members hugged him, offering their gratitude. "David! Thank you. We heard you were the one who stopped the shooter. Because of you, our children are safe."
"Amelia! More importantly, have you checked on the children?"
"Don't worry. We’re checking now, but the shooter couldn't get through the back door, and the students evacuated early, so no one was hurt."
Relieved to hear that no one was injured, David set out to find the principal, Asher. Asher was busy confirming the evacuation status of each class with the staff. When he saw David, he excused himself and approached. "David! Are you hurt? I heard from the police that you blocked the shooter's entry."
"I'm fine, thankfully. Have all the kids evacuated?"
"I checked just now, and there isn't a single student with a gunshot wound. A few students have scrapes from falling while running, but it’s nothing serious."
Hearing that there were no major casualties, David guided the students to the designated shelter. Charlie and Shane appeared and patted him on the shoulder. "You okay?"
"God must have been watching over us!"
"If you hadn't stopped him from entering, it would have been a disaster."
As the three of them talked, the Nashville Police Chief approached. "I heard you're the head of the Campus Police..."
"Yes, I am."
The Chief offered a handshake. "I’ve heard about your actions. You’ve worked hard."
"It was my duty, sir."
"I was wondering if we could obtain the CCTV footage... would you be willing to cooperate?"
"..."
"We need the footage for the press briefing."
David called Charlie over to check the data the Chief was requesting. "Charlie! They need the CCTV footage from earlier..."
"It’s all saved on the computer, so I’ll send it over right away!"
Having obtained what he wanted, the Chief excused himself and stepped back. David, relieved that no one had been hurt in the crisis, went back to guiding the students.
The media broke the news that a shooting had occurred at the Nashville private school, but that the campus police had neutralized the suspect on-site. During his briefing, the Nashville Police Chief used the CCTV footage to explain that the organic cooperation between the campus police and the Nashville police had allowed them to neutralize the suspect without student casualties.
The footage provided during the briefing was aired across news outlets. The reports emphasized that the campus police were able to neutralize the suspect due to their swift response, and that the security system provided by Starlink Deepmind had played a major role in that speed.
The footage showed the security system recognizing the firearms the moment the suspect appeared and triggering an alarm. The media argued that the security system, currently in a pilot phase, needed to be expanded nationwide.
Taesik, who had been asleep, was jolted awake by his ringing phone. He answered quickly so as not to wake Miso. "Hello?"
"Mr. Kim. I see you were sleeping. This is Brian from the FBI."
"What brings you to call at this hour?"
"The security system Starlink supplied did its job perfectly."
"What do you mean...?"
"We were able to prevent a massive tragedy in Nashville. The system identified a suspect entering a private school with a rifle and triggered an alarm. The media is praising the FBI for adopting this security system, and there are articles everywhere calling for its installation in all American schools."
"That’s a relief."
"The details will be handled at the working level, but I wanted to tell you the big news. We’ve decided to install the security system across the entire United States, so I’m calling to let you know you need to prepare. It’s going to be a much larger scale than you might think."
Since he was already on the phone with Brian, Taesik relayed the grievances of CEO Cha Youngjin. "First of all, thank you for the proposal to install the security system across the U.S. However, Deepmind continues to receive reports that the FBI is attempting illegal access to our security systems."
"..."
"If there is one more attempt to illegally seize our technology, I will cancel all supply contracts."
At Taesik’s firm tone, Brian laughed. "Hahaha. I understand. I will relay this to my staff. If you need Deepmind's programs, I will instruct them to purchase them directly."
Brian responded softly to Taesik’s strong complaint. Seeing how late it was, Taesik hung up and went back to sleep.
The next day, South Korea also ran articles reporting that while a shooting had occurred in the U.S., the security system provided by Starlink Deepmind had played a major role, highlighting the excellence of Korean technology. CEO Cha Youngjin, once again the focus of media attention, declined the flood of interview requests. The media instead used past interview materials to argue that the same system should be applied domestically.
Taesik called CEO Cha Youngjin to his office in the morning and relayed what he had heard from Brian the night before. Cha expressed his opinion that he wanted to shift the business entity from Deepmind to Starlink Defense.
"CEO, it’s impossible for our current manpower to install the security system across the entire U.S. I’d like to structure the contract so that Defense handles the contract and we provide the support."
"Are you still short on personnel?"
"Can we just hire anyone? And even if we hire people just for simple installation, it’s hard to maintain them if there isn't constant work. Since Defense is already producing cameras, I think it would be better if they handled the contract and we supported them."
"I will relay this to CEO Park In-tak. By the way, why did you decline the interview this time?"
"Hahaha. I don't have anything left to say, and it’s uncomfortable. My family is also too well-known now, and they find it burdensome to go outside."
Recently, CEO Cha Youngjin had been selected as one of the 10 figures leading the future of Korean technology, drawing media attention, and he was feeling the pressure of being in the spotlight.
"How is the cooperation request from the National Intelligence Service going?"
"Most of the nuclear facilities were concentrated in Yongbyon, so it was easy to find them. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute sent their own people to verify what were presumed to be reactors and reprocessing facilities, and we additionally discovered a nuclear fuel fabrication plant."
"How did you verify the reactors and reprocessing facilities just by looking at satellite photos?"
"I didn't know either, but nuclear materials have to be transported in containers. I identified them by looking at photos of the containers loaded on trucks. Fortunately, the containers were over a meter in size, so they were easy to spot at a glance."
"So, has the NIS withdrawn?"
"Yes. We found and submitted all the vehicle movement routes between the nuclear facilities, and identifying what specific buildings were was beyond our scope, so they withdrew."
"How is the development of the combat management system going?"
"The conceptual design is finished. We’ve included all the intelligence sources we have, but the problem is that we don't have information on the military's current assets, which makes it difficult. Is cooperation from the military possible?"
"It will probably be difficult without a formal contract. I’ll look into it. In the meantime, you can consolidate the information from the satellites, Switchblades, and medium-altitude drones, right?"
"Yes. I’ve also set the design concept so that information collected from aircraft can be received via data link."
"Just keep everything ready so we can deploy as soon as our satellites are ready."
While Taesik was discussing the combat management system, South Korea broke the news that a long-rumored inter-Korean summit would be held.